Emergency powers for classroom construction dangerous, says solon

MANILA, Philippines — Granting the President emergency powers to hasten the construction of classrooms might be dangerous especially in light of corruption issues hounding the government, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said on Monday.

Tinio, during the House of Representatives’ committee on basic education and culture hearing, said he has no problems with measures seeking to address the country’s growing classroom backlog. 

However, the lawmaker said the issue of anomalous flood control projects — and the proposal to do away with procurement steps once emergency powers are granted — may send the wrong signals.

“Wala naman tayong problema do’n sa mga ibang bill which are proposing different ways of making more effective the school building program of the DepEd (Department of Education).  Pero ito po, emergency powers po ito.  So iba ito,” he said.

(We have no problem with the other bills which are proposing different ways of making more effective the school building program of the DepEd (Department of Education).  But this is about emergency powers.  So this is different.)

“Tingin ko po, hindi magandang timing ngayon na i-propose na bigyan ng emergency powers ang Presidente specifically exempting the President from following the procurement law and allowing the President to directly negotiate with contractors […] hindi po maganda na sabihin na ang Presidente, sige wala nang bidding, et cetera, diretso na lang ikaw kumausap sa contractor,” he added.

(I think, it would not be a good time to give the President emergency powers, specifically exempting the President from following the procurement law and allowing the President to directly negotiate with contractors […] it would not look good to say that the President can procure without bidding, et cetera, he can talk to the contractor directly.)

According to Tinio, past DepEd administrations, particularly that under then-President Benigno Aquino III, were able to address classroom shortage without resorting to emergency powers for a sitting president.READ: Aquino: Classroom shortage problem solved before 2014

“Kinaya ng DepEd na magpagawa ng malaking bilang ng mga classroom nang hindi kailangan ng emergency powers […] ang point in three years, 2010 to 2013, nagawa ng DepEd na more than 20,000 classrooms per year,” Tinio said, citing a news report written during Aquino’s presidency.

(DepEd was able to construct a large number of classrooms without emergency powers […] the point is that in three years, 2010 to 2013, DepEd was able to build 20,000 classrooms per year.)

There were several proposals seeking to address the DepEd’s slow classroom construction program which were discussed by the committee on Monday. 

Four of these proposals, however, House Bill (HB) No. 4904, 5103, 5302, and 5579 all seek to give the President emergency powers “to expedite the construction, rehabilitation and repair of classrooms.”

Last November 3, it was reported that Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima filed House Bill (HB) No. 5751 or the proposed Classroom-Building Acceleration Program (CAP), which seeks to allow local government units (LGUs) and the private sector to help DepEd in addressing classroom shortage in the country.

Tinio and his colleagues at the Makabayan bloc — Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co — also filed House Resolution (HR) No. 425, asking the committee to check on the “extremely low performance” of the school building program during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former president Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: Makabayan seeks investigation into slow classroom construction

In HR No. 425, Makabayan claimed that the National Expenditures Program (NEP) or the executive-submitted budget from 2020 to 2026 showed that the program never met its targets — with figures showing as low as 11 classrooms constructed in 2018, in contrast to a target of 47,000.

The Philippines is facing a huge classroom backlog, as Education Secretary Sonny Angara himself admitted that there is a 165,000 classroom shortage — adding that the country might need 55 years to resolve the matter with the current pace.

Angara said this after calling Senator Bam Aquino’s CAP bill a “breath of fresh air” as it will greatly help the agency address the classroom backlog.

Under the House-approved 2026 General Appropriations Bill, education got a huge boost, with the committee on appropriations’ amendments panel pushing the proposed budget under the Basic Education Facilities (BEF) from P22.5 billion to P35 billion.

The BEF includes allocation for the construction, completion, rehabilitation of classrooms, and the provision of furniture.

Appropriations chairperson and Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Suansing said last October 8 that the Budget Amendments Review Sub-committee (BARSc) initially approved a P22.5 billion hike for classrooms’ construction and rehabilitation, but the panel found additional fiscal space. /gsg